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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29996439">If you fall over, I'll be there to give you new shoelaces that won't untie as easily</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChipperChemical/pseuds/ChipperChemical'>ChipperChemical</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Hermitcraft stuff [9]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hermitcraft RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(Sorry boys), Bdubs and Scar are mentioned but not important enough for a tag, But in a very weird Zedaph-y way, Gen, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Really could be replaced with any character and it would work, Slight projection uh oh, Suicidal Intentions, Suicidal Thoughts, Tango needs a hug, This idea came to me at 3am and I scribbled it in my notebook, Zedaph struggles to show affection but he finds a way, heed the tags</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 19:14:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,259</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29996439</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChipperChemical/pseuds/ChipperChemical</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Tango stands on the cliff edge, looking at the floor a good hundred or so blocks down, and considers everything.</p><p>Zedaph stands next to him and decides that Tango needs new shoelaces.</p><p>[Rated teen+ for suicidal intent. Heed the tags!]</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Tango Tek &amp; Zedaph (Video Blogging RPF)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Hermitcraft stuff [9]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2181648</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>67</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>If you fall over, I'll be there to give you new shoelaces that won't untie as easily</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>CW:// Suicidal intent</p><p>i feel like i've made that clear, but still</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>People only came up here when they were restless or suicidal and the answer laid in what kind of shoes they were wearing.</p><p>Zedaph looked down at his own shoes; muddied and scuffed, maybe with a hole or two but still clearly loved and well-used. Restless. He glanced over at Tango’s shoes, his eye catching a star doodled in biro on the side of the soul and the tightly tied shoelaces. Suicidal.</p><p>“So why’re you—“</p><p>“Don’t.” Tango’s voice was sharp, but still held some underlying gentleness to it, like a fragile rose covered in thorns. To drag on that simile, Zedaph had always loved to stop and admire the flowers, even the prickly ones.</p><p>“Don’t what?” He entertained, edging closer to Tango and praying to everything otherworldly that he didn’t lose his footing and go tumbling down Scar’s massive cliffside because that would be far too embarrassing to explain when he respawned.</p><p>“Don’t pretend you care why I’m here.” Tango finished, and as dickhead-ish as it sounded, Zedaph couldn’t bring himself to argue. Why or why not Tango was standing on the edge of a cliff at one in the goddamn morning wasn’t exactly his business, nor did he care for it to be. That was between Tango and his own mind.</p><p>Back to looking at shoes he went.</p><p>Despite how difficult it would be for any stable Hermit to see in the dark, Zedaph’s whole living-in-an-underground-cave-without-windows schtick meant that night-vision came quite naturally to him, so he could spot the individual bumps and patterns on Tango’s sneakers. Though, now that he was looking, those shoelaces were godawful.</p><p>“I have spare ones.” He mentioned, continuing his train of thought aloud, “Pink and glittery. It’d suit you.”</p><p>“What?” Oh. Zedaph sighed. He needed to develop that Zedaph-to-regular-person translator.</p><p>“Your shoelaces.” He gestured as if it were obvious, which it completely was to him and only him, “I have some that are pink and glittery if you want new ones. Scratch that, you <em>need</em> new ones. I’ll deliver them tomorrow.”</p><p>“Respawn times are unpredictable. I might not be here tomorrow.” Tango pointed out, and Zedaph hummed in some kind of reluctant agreement. Dying didn’t mean all that much to the Hermits — just maybe a few phantom pains or aches upon respawn — but the time between death and respawn could last forever and it was Zedaph’s personal idea of hell.</p><p>“Well then, let’s get away from this dangerous place and do something fun,” Zedaph suggested, not hearing a complaint from Tango within two seconds and taking that as a complete and utter agreement, “Have you played my mini-golf course?”</p><p>Tango barked out a laugh, which Zedaph decided was a nice sound.</p><p>“Advertising? I hate you.” Tango professed, glancing for a split second away from the edge to glare at Zedaph, who grinned.</p><p>“I’m pretty sure that’s a good thing.” He pointed out, thankful for how long the smile lingered on Tango. It looked much better on him than sorrow, “But seriously, have you?”</p><p>“No.” Tango responded flatly, making it obvious that he didn’t want to move from the cliff, which Zedaph really should’ve expected if he’d thought things through, but not thinking twice was kind of part of his charm so he refused to start now. This reminded him of the final level of this game he’d played earlier in the year where his character had to convince someone that he was trustworthy, but whatever dialogue option he chose seemed to be the wrong one.</p><p>The game title slipped his mind. Same era as Detroit: Become Human but cooler because no-one had heard of it.</p><p>The thing was, Zedaph realised as he continued this comparison in his mind, the game gave him four dialogue options and he knew that one of them would always be right. In this situation, with Tango on the cliff beside him, nothing he could say fit the situation. (And no dialogue options had appeared in his peripheral yet so he lost faith in that idea.)</p><p>“I like your voice.” Zedaph said.</p><p>“Of course you do,” Tango laughed again, and Zedaph wasn’t entirely sure if that was good or bad, but it was a nice noise, “You like sound.”</p><p>“Doesn’t everyone?”</p><p>“Bdubs doesn’t like loud noises.”</p><p>“Well, that’s Bdubs.”</p><p>They both laughed and it was perfect. For that single moment, everything about them was forgotten, any thought in their minds flushed out like unwanted waste, any reason they had for being on the cliffside fizzled out and died, and all that existed to them was the stupid comment.</p><p>But still in that same moment, everything rushed back about them and it all shifted once again and they weren’t laughing anymore. So much can change in a moment.</p><p>“Would you still like me if I were dead?” Tango initiated the conversation this time and Zedaph didn’t know how to feel about it.</p><p>“No.”</p><p>Yeah, those glittery shoelaces would fit with Tango’s whole aura that he had about him. It was a vibe that Zedaph had chemistry with and pink glitter would improve it tenfold. Something itched inside him to go and grab the shoelaces right then to show Tango, but the moment didn’t present itself. He’d know when Tango was ready for the shoelaces.</p><p>Because the thing was, Zedaph really did love Tango. Not in that sappy stupid “I love you mwah” kind of way, but in that soft friendship way where he would be totally down to listening to Tango rant about utter nonsense until four in the morning just because he liked being around him and hearing his voice. (And by ‘utter nonsense’, Zed meant iron farms. What the hell are iron farms.)</p><p>And he’d told Tango how much he cared. Zedaph had that conversation so many times in his head, and only in his head because feelings and affection so deep is so difficult to talk about. How do you convey to someone that you love them beyond everything? Obviously via pink glittery shoelaces.</p><p>“What happened to me?” Tango asked the universe and Zedaph. Only one of them responded.</p><p>“Life,” Zedaph hesitated for a moment, “Death too, I suppose.”</p><p>“Why does life have to be so..?” He trailed off, gesturing meaninglessly around, but it was okay because Zedaph understood completely. Of course he did. Of course.</p><p>“If it wasn’t messy, it’d be as boring as watching white paint dry on a white wall in a white room.” Zedaph shrugged, “But sometimes, that messiness can drive you to... y’know, standing on the edge of a cliffside at one am.”</p><p>“Then it shouldn’t be so messy.”</p><p>“So clean it.”</p><p>Tango thought.</p><p>“How do you clean a mess that’s melded into a room?” He finally asked, dragging his gaze up and looking to the sky instead because the stars and astronomy were endlessly more beautiful and interesting than the far floor that he was becoming less and less certain would cause his death.</p><p>“With a whole lot of cleaning spray and scrubbing.” Zedaph explained. He wasn’t sure what it was with him and expanded metaphors on that particular day but Tango seemed to be on the same page too so clearly the universe was at fault rather than him.</p><p>“Do you have any spare cleaning spray?” Tango asked, looking over at Zedaph with a kind of hope in his eyes that he hadn’t seen before and, if Zedaph was going to be entirely honest in his internal monologue, it looked nice on Tango’s face.</p><p>“Nope,” Zedaph sighed, and Tango looked away, “But</p><p>I do have some glittery pink shoelaces.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>a happy ending because i'm not that cruel</p><p>yet.</p><p>:)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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